Help me find the best trading platform - Thanks

L

locussst

Hello,

I am a student with $10,000. I just registered for an Interactive Brokers account but they will only let me have a cash account (no margin) because my income is too low to get approved for margin.

When I was with thinkorswim I had access to margin but the problem was that the $10 per stock trade was way too high given the fact that I was making $10,000 day trades so I never traded much on there (just used it for options).

What I was wondering was if there were any good brokers out there that would charge me no more than $3-5 per trade; hopefully less. I figure if I used margin then $3-5 would be an okay range though.

By the way, with $10,000 am I usually allowed to use $10,000 extra margin or is it $20,000 (for a total of $30,000 of stock)?

Please don't get on this thread and criticize my apparent trading methods. I am an experienced trader and I make consistent profits so I know what I am doing. Suggestions and advice only.

Thank you for your help. I will eagerly await your reply.
 
I found a couple today that looked intriguing: mainly OptionsHouse. Please let me know what you think of this one. At $4 it seems reasonable.
 
I used Tradeking for a couple years for options. $5 / trade + .65 each additional option on the same underlying / day.

It worked fine; too bad my trading sukked :eek:
 
Many college students would be familiar with INTERNET SEARCH or product reviews of brokers on favorite sites. Are you?
 
Quote from locussst:


I am an experienced trader and I make consistent profits so I know what I am doing. Suggestions and advice only.
More...

How long have you been an experienced, consistently profitable trader?

For what you are asking, something is incongruent. Last time I checked margin was 4-1 for stocks. With only 10,000.00 you would fall under the PTD rules.

You are either messing around here or a newbie.

Come on who is this?
 
Quote from locussst:


What I was wondering was if there were any good brokers out there that would charge me no more than $3-5 per trade; hopefully less. I figure if I used margin then $3-5 would be an okay range though.
More...

Trading platforms are subjective. The "best" for one may not be the best for another.

Regarding fees, you may want to check out these brokers:

http://mbtrading.com/commissions.aspx?page=Stocks

https://speedtrader.com/Fees_Commissions.aspx

http://www.lightspeed.com/?page_id=5061

Remember though, if you're trading stocks and get flagged as a pattern day trader, then you'll need to place 25k, not 10k.
 
Yeah, I know the pattern day trading rules - I just figure since I get on average several quality signals a day with my strategy, I might as well be trading 3 times every 5 days rather than waiting for all of my cash to settle and then being able to carry out max 2 trades per week.

Those were good broker suggestions. If anyone has other let me know.
 
I use Interactive Brokers and TradeStation. .5-cent or 1-cent per share per trade max, depending on which you choose ($1 minimum per trade).
Other charges may apply, such as data, non-use, or platform fees if you don't trade enough.
 
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